One Thing Changes Everything
by Eduardo Vargas
Summary: Harry is a wizard but also a teenage boy. Being a hero is pretty difficult and saving the world is quite a mission but destiny isn't going to facilitate his task. Harry's life is about to take a big turn, for the worst and for the best.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer:_

I do not own or claim to own Harry Potter, that privilege belongs to J.K. Rowling.

 _Resume:_

Harry is a wizard but also a teenage boy. Being a hero is pretty difficult and saving the world is quite a mission but destiny isn't going to facilitate his task. Harry's life is about to take a big turn, for the worst and for the best.

 _This story is set in the "present" as in the 21th century. The exact year will be mentioned in the story._

 _It can also be considered a bit AU because my Harry may differ a bit from the books and because I haven't read the books in years (Yes, kill me.) I don't actually much remember how Harry personality was exactly. Years of reading fanfictions has made my perception of Harry quite confusing._

 _My humor is a bit weird and it can be felt while reading and I hope you like it._

 _There will be swearing._

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Fuck.**

* * *

I was cold, very cold; the air felt like frozen even though we were in mid-July. I was in England after all.

"Dementors must be all around the place" I said at loud, half joking and half worried.

I was walking home, or well, 4 Privet Drive. I couldn't really consider it as my home. School was my home. Hogwarts was my home. That castle was the first place where I felt secure and protected even after all those years fighting for my life in it. It was kind of funny. And well my life wasn't boring at least.

The streets were becoming darker and darker, the sun was setting down. I had just spent the day wondering all around London and I was just arriving in the neighborhood. I needed this freedom, this day of doing nothing but think and feel the air in my skin while I walked. I took some lunch in a cafe and kept walking all day after. I got to see Big Ben for the first time as a "tourist". I never got the chance before.

I had headphones put on. I had begun to listen to muggle music a few days ago and damn I was addicted now. There was so much variety and so many songs to discover. I loved how a song could transport you and make you feel so much things. Music was beginning to be my way out of my, very much, complicated life. Because of that, this summer was already different and better than the past ones.

As I was arriving at 4 Privet Drive, I heard my name being called from behind. It was the voice of a woman.

"Harry?"

I looked behind me and there I saw the woman. She was beautiful, no she was gorgeous. Tall and thin but strong. She was splendid. And she dad that long black hair that seems to float around her face as a veil. In one word. Sexy.

"Yes" I answered not knowing what else to say.

"Are you the Harry Potter who lives in 4, Privet Drive? " She asked as if she didn't know me. She was certainly muggle.

Then I noticed her uniform. She was from the police.

"My name is Joëlle Ruston. I'm from the police." She added quite unnecessary.

I stayed silent, wondering what the hell the police wanted from me and if I had to run right now and find a way to contact Dumbledore.

Seeing my silence, she added "Something happened to your family and I need you to come with me."

I froze, confused. The Dursleys were supposed to be safe as long as I lived with them. How could they be in trouble? Then it hit me. They were safe from magic, only from magic. Whatever happened to them, it wasn't related to the magical world.

"Okay" I said.

 _What the fuck!_ I was really confused and, to be honest, a bit afraid to know what to do or say.

Joëlle Ruston turned her back and began to walk away, probably to her car. Getting back to reality I realized that I should be following her and not still be standing there like an idiot. By now she probably though I was some weird kid. I hoped she didn't.

We got inside her car. She turned the motor on and then looked at me.

"We are going to the hospital. I'm sorry but it's better if you know before we arrive. The Dursleys died a few hours ago in a brutal car accident. I'm sorry."

The only thing that came to my mind in that moment was "Fuck" and then I realized I said that at loud. Fuck.

 _To be continued.._

* * *

Hope you liked it. I wouldn't mind a review to know your impressions and thoughts about this pretty short beginning. The plot isn't very much revealed and I didn't even set the year. Well the next chapter will come in 2018. It should be much longer than this one and really tell more about the story. I like mystery so don't expect too much. See you!

 _P.S: This is my first story so any advice and constructive criticism is very much welcome._

 **Eduardo Vargas.**


	2. Realization

_Disclaimer:_

I do not own or claim to own Harry Potter, that privilege belongs to J.K. Rowling.

 _Resume:_

Harry is a wizard but also a teenage boy. Being a hero is pretty difficult and saving the world is quite a mission but destiny isn't going to facilitate his task. Harry's life is about to take a big turn, for the worst and for the best.

 _This story is set in the "present" as in the 21th century. The exact year will be mentioned in the story._

 _It can also be considered a bit AU because my Harry may differ a bit from the books and because I haven't read the books in years (Yes, kill me.) I don't actually much remember how Harry personality was exactly. Years of reading fanfictions has made my perception of Harry quite confusing._

 _My humor is a bit weird and it can be felt while reading and I hope you like it._

 _There will be swearing._

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Realization.**

* * *

It was raining by the time we arrived at the hospital. The sun was already set and the light streets were beginning to turn on. The ride had been a bit long, more than half an hour. But it wasn't enough for me to get myself to the idea that the Dursleys were gone. Forever. It was crazy. I was most certainly dreaming. There was no way the Dursleys had died like that, without warning. As if death warned before arriving. I was being silly. I shook myself, trying to get my head straight and focus on the situation in hand. I looked up at Mrs. Ruston and noticed she was looking at me.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

What a stupid question to ask, as if I could be okay after I learned the death of my last family. Then I realized. I was a real orphan now. No family at all. I was alone. The Dursleys were awful, yeah. But they were my last family. Even though I didn't love them, I still felt pretty bad, if not a bit guilty.

"I know this is hard but you have to be strong. People believe in you." she said as she saw that I wasn't okay.

People believe in me. That was an odd thing to say. I looked up at her, she was smiling, one of those sad smiles that you make when you try to recomfort someone. She knew. She wasn't muggle. That sentence was way too much ambiguous. She knew me and she knew I was The-Boy-Who-Lived. She was a witch.

Shit! This was suspicious, why would a witch be a police officer? I started to panic. I began to sweat. A lot. She noticed I was beginning to feel sick. My face was a giveaway.

"Calm down. I'm not a Death Eater, I'm just a muggleborn who preferred to live as a muggle. I know about you and it's a pure coincidence I was the one that had to come pick you up." She said.

How comforting. Really. I was being silly of being so paranoid. Years of facing death has consequences after all. I started to calm down, or at least I tried. I needed time to process all of this. I asked her if she could leave me a few minutes alone.

"Of course. I'll be outside waiting for you." she responded as she got out of the car.

My mind was buzzing with thoughts. I couldn't really focus on anything. Why? What divinity did I pissed off to be punished like this? Now I don't have any family left, I was alone. It hurt. I felt alone even though I knew that my friends were there for me. The Weasleys almost considered me as part of their family. I found a little bit of comfort in that. I loved the Weasleys. But now what? Where will I go? I was lost.

I stayed in the car for another five minutes, trying to relax and calm myself the most possible. I wasn't being very much successful. It was hell cold outside, I though as I closed the door. The rain was starting to go away but I still had to put my hood on to avoid being entirely wet. I ran to the hospital entrance where I saw the police officer waving at me. She was most certainly waiting for me there because of the rain.

"Better?" she asked me as I arrived next to her.

"A bit." I responded.

I couldn't really think of something else to say. I didn't want to enter in the hospital. I didn't want to see the bodies of the Dursleys. I couldn't.

"Well, we have to go inside. They are waiting for us and we are a bit late. It's no big deal but they might be worried." she told me as she entered through the doors.

I followed her. I noticed my hands shaking, I was nervous. How could I not be? This was a nightmare.

She opened a door, stepped in and told me to come in. I entered the room and the first thing I notices is Dumbledore. The man is really everywhere. I relaxed nevertheless.

"Professor." I saluted him.

"Harry, my boy. I'm so sorry. I know this must be hard for you but there is still the recognition to do in order for everything to be in order. I'm here as your new temporary guardian. I was notified as soon as the accident happened."

"Okay."

I felt like that was the only word I was able to say.

We wondered more into the room and I noticed that this was certainly the morgue. There were metallic tables all over the room and over the walls were the closets or whatever the name was where they kept the bodies.

A nurse approached one of those and opened it. She pulled the body out. It was totally covered in a black bag. Just like in the movies. As she opened the bag I closed my eyes, not wanting to see even though I did say I would.

"Harry, is that your uncle?" Dumbledore asked.

Didn't the man have feelings. Couldn't he see that I wasn't okay doing this. I felt as if they were asking me if I wanted my uncle to be dead. The worst was that a part of me did. I wanted for so many years for my uncle and aunt to die or to leave me. As I grew up they never loved me, never were nice to me. They even took advantage of me, treated me as their house elf. I had suffered so much in their hands. I didn't have a childhood because of them. But wishing something was one thing, for it to come true was another thing.

"Harry?" I heard Mrs. Ruston, the policewoman, say.

I opened my eyes, afraid of what I will see. There, laying on his back was the dead body of my uncle Vernon. White as a sheet. His face was deformed, clearly injured from the accident. It was burned, some bones were visible. Even with his eyes closed I could clearly see that one eyeball was missing. I turned myself to face the other side of the room, I couldn't see it anymore. But it was him, of that I was sure. I felt like I was about to throw up.

"Yes, it's him." was all I could say.

Why couldn't Dumbledore do it. He knew my relatives. Didn't he?

"Thank you, Harry. I'm sorry that you had to see that but the recognition had to be done by you." Dumbledore responded in all his wisdom.

It was as if he had read my mind. Which might be true.

"Now why won't you go with the lovely police agent here and take a break in the cafeteria while I finished to arrange everything here for you." He continued.

I was totally okay with that so I nodded not trusting my voice to come out right.

"Come with me Harry." said Mrs. Ruston as she opened the door leading outside.

We walked out and headed to the cafeteria. We walked silently side by side. I was too focused thinking of the repercussions of my relatives dead to engage on a conversation with her.

"I know that losing your last family must be very hard for you, Harry. Losing one's family must hurt you deep in the heart." I heard her say as we calmly walked through the white corridors of the hospital.

We arrived in front of the doors of the elevator. The cafeteria was in the ground floor, we were in the third floor. I didn't even notice that we had got three floors up when we arrived.

"It is, weirdly. I never loved them."

It was true. The Dursleys weren't very loving people. They hated me and it was a mutual feeling. Their lost was hard but not because I missed them, but more because they were family. And we don't choose our family.

"Oh. I didn't know that you weren't very close to your family."

"Well, the Dursleys made sure I knew I wasn't wanted." I responded.

"Your family didn't love you?"

"They never did. They always hated me because of my magic. They were afraid of it. Disgusted of it."

"That doesn't seem like a good environment for a kid to grow up..."

"And it wasn't." I responded.

She was looking at me in the eyes. I could see how what I said had affected her, she wasn't feeling pity for me. It was more of a sad realization.

"I know how it is. To grow up on a hostile home. My parents never accepted magic. They were very religious people, they though my powers came from the devil. They tried to purify me every summer, every time harder and harder. They even tried to stop me from going back to Hogwarts. I had to runaway from them."

That speech touched me more than I though it would. I never though of how certain muggleborns could have a hard time dealing with magic and muggle beliefs.

"Certain people can never accept some truths. Because if they do it'll drastically change their lives and no one likes to have their lives messed up." she said.

"Thank you, for telling me all that." I responded to her.

We had arrived to the cafeteria. It was like a splash of colors in this all white building. The floor was made of dark wood and the walls were covered in colorful colors. Right in front of me was a huge painting, it looked like a big rainbow of colors, it was definitely some abstract art. But I could see the beauty of it easily. It represented so much things. The other walls were they covered in bright colors, way too much I thought. I could see multiples banners with publicity. The only painting was the rainbow.

The cafeteria wasn't very full, almost empty. We walked quickly to the counter and ordered some coffees. I was becoming addicted to it. I tried it once during a trip in London at the beginning of the summer and couldn't stop taking one at every opportunity.

After taking our order we took place at one of the unoccupied tables. I sat there, humming the scent of my dark coffee and then took a sip of the hot liquid. I liked it dark, with one sugar. Still bitter but with a touch of sweetness. Delicious.

"Do you know where you'll be going now?"

She startled me, I was too deep in my thoughts. I kept forgetting that she was there with me. I was being kind of a jerk.

"I have no idea." was my response.

It was true. I had really no idea. Dumbledore was the one in charge as always. He always took the decisions for me. I didn't know if I liked it or not, that control he had over my life. Some of his decisions were questionable after all. But I couldn't think about it now. My mind was a mess, I wasn't able to focus. I couldn't even process the Dursleys death.

"I wish I was able to be free for once." I added.

"You could if you wanted. You are the only master of your life."

I wished it was true.

"How could I be the master of my life when I'm not even able to choose my own destiny."

As if it wasn't enough of a bad day, memories of the prophecy came to my mind and they didn't came alone. I tried so hard not to think about it all summer but now it was too much and I couldn't not think about it. Sirius. The veil. The prophecy. All of that.

I felt my eyes become watery. I didn't want to cry now.

I had spent all those past weeks trying to clear my mind. To not think about Sirius death. I was denying it all this time. But now with the Dursleys gone. It was like the wall I had built around my mind had broken. Releasing all those memories I had kept trying to forget, and I had been quite successful at it.

"Harry? Are you okay?" I heard Mrs. Ruston say.

I couldn't respond. I felt like if I was to open my mouth I will burst into tears.

And I did.

 _To be continued.._

* * *

First chapter done. Hope you liked it. See you soon.

P.S: This is my first story so any advice and constructive criticism is very much welcome.

Eduardo Vargas.


End file.
